Surviving in the chaos of war begins in the wilderness.

Chapter 13 Encounter with a Herd of Wild Boars

Shady trees and a gentle breeze offer a rare respite from the summer heat.

Having already traveled this route many times, Zhou Ye was no longer so cautious. Or rather, he was quite relaxed.

However, as they approached the old campsite, Zhou Ye walked around a clump of low trees and glanced to the side unintentionally. He was suddenly stunned and immediately stopped in his tracks.

Just to my right, about thirty paces away, a fat wild boar raised its head. Perhaps the beast was also surprised to encounter a human, for the two stared at each other in bewilderment.

Zhou Ye dared not make any rash moves, maintaining the stalemate. Based on his experience in wilderness survival, when encountering a wild animal, he knew he must never show fear, and even more so, he must not turn and run. Therefore, it was best to wait for the wild boar to leave on its own.

With caution, Zhou Ye nervously watched the wild boar's movements. He silently drew a javelin from his back and slowly moved backward.

It was clear that the wild boar was also hesitant. It kept growling softly and making threatening gestures.

Zhou Ye slowed his pace and continued to move backward. He absolutely did not want to fight this wild boar if he could maintain a safe distance.

Unexpectedly, perhaps he hadn't checked the almanac before leaving home. As Zhou Ye took another step back, he unintentionally stepped on a dry branch on the ground, and with a "crack," the sound of the branch breaking suddenly rang out.

The sudden sound startled the wild boar. With a loud "Oink!", the boar pawed at the ground, lowered its massive head, and charged at itself.

Seeing the wild boar charging at high speed, Zhou Ye threw his javelin without hesitation. He didn't even have time to check if it hit; he quickly circled around the large tree behind him and nimbly changed direction.

With a loud "boom," the tree was struck and shook violently, and its leaves fell like raindrops.

Using the cover of the big tree, Zhou Ye had already brushed past the wild boar. He then began to run for his life towards the small camp.

As Zhou Ye passed the wild boar, he caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye that the javelin had hit its mark. However, the wild boar's hide was thick, and Zhou Ye's strength was too weak to penetrate deeply. It was like a hedgehog's quill, stuck straight into the wild boar's body?

Although he knew the occasion was inappropriate, Zhou Ye almost burst out laughing at the wild boar's comical appearance.

However, his injuries had clearly enraged the wild boar.

The wild boar turned its head, its eyes bloodshot, and let out an angry howl. It then chased after the retreating "little insect." Following this howl, the howls of wild boars from other nearby areas rose and fell in unison.

Hearing the howls of wild boars all around, Zhou Ye quickened his pace. He'd almost forgotten there was a herd of wild boars nearby; he absolutely couldn't get surrounded by these beasts!

But as he ran, Zhou Ye began to feel something was off.

To be honest, he underestimated the speed of the +5 Agility plus Basic Movement Mastery. Although he couldn't shake off the wild boars, he also prevented them from getting close.

However, the inability to catch them only drove the wild boars even more frantic. They were unwilling to give up and relentlessly pursued them.

However, we are not far from the old camp now.

As Zhou Ye was about to reach the entrance of the old camp, he still had the leisure to look back once more.

When they found the wild boar was still several dozen steps away, Zhou Ye opened the camp gate, slipped inside, and then quickly closed the gate, using a wooden stake he had prepared to prop it up. The other side of the stake was wedged into a small pit that had been dug in the ground.

With a loud "bang," the gate was smashed into by a wild boar. Then came a series of "bang, bang, bang..." as a group of wild boars began ramming the gate.

The gate was already shaking violently. Zhou Ye moved quickly, propping the gate up with wooden stakes and moving various heavy objects to pile behind it.

In fact, wooden stakes were enough to hold the gate in place. The gate had become increasingly sturdy and remained unmoved even when battered by the wild boar herd.

Wiping away cold sweat, Zhou Ye finally breathed a sigh of relief. Because of the ample manpower available beforehand, the old camp was even more fortified than the small family compound. The surrounding fence was made of mostly waist-thick wooden stakes, buried in two layers at the front and back.

So, after their attempts to ram the fence failed, several wild boars circled around to the side. But after a few more attempts, they could only sheepishly give up…

……

In the darkness, Zhou Ye slept in the small leader's wooden hut. He could hear the howling of wild boars outside from time to time, as well as the "bang bang" sounds of things being hit.

Zhou Ye rolled over, bored. "Go ahead and try to crash in, you can't get in anyway. Let's see who can outlast whom, brothers! Pah! You bunch of beasts are pigs, I'm a human!"

Lost in his thoughts, Zhou Ye slept soundly. When he woke up the next day, he found that the wild boar herd had vanished without a trace, and he couldn't help but burst into laughter.

However, after laughing, Zhou Ye remained cautious.

This was actually a lesson for me. I knew there were wild boars near the camp, yet I became increasingly complacent. If I had continued to scout ahead as I did at the beginning, perhaps I wouldn't have encountered this danger.

In that case, perhaps the wild boar herd hasn't gone far. Let's wait another day, at least to put our minds at ease.

Taking advantage of the wild boar's absence, Zhou Ye went to the small vegetable garden next door and began to search carefully.

Thankfully, I wasn't wrong; there were still some we'd missed. We finally found a small half-bag of potatoes, weighing over ten kilograms, and a few radishes and carrots.

After setting out the food, Zhou Ye found suitable wood in the camp and whittled more than a dozen javelins. His free time afterwards was, of course, spent working like crazy…

However, by evening, Zhou Ye's face had darkened. He had heard wild boars howling again? Although these boars had given up their futile ramming attempts, they were still roaming around the old camp?

Zhou Ye cursed inwardly. Was he kidding? Had these wild boars become sentient? They were probably incredibly vengeful; they hadn't actually left. Had they been lying in ambush nearby all along?

Zhou Ye gasped. He'd messed up this time. How was he supposed to get out of there?

Especially since there wasn't much food around, it wouldn't last more than a few days.

After thinking for a while, Zhou Ye finally had another idea. He immediately found some more wood and buried himself in carving it again...

The next morning, Zhou Ye stood on a high point, gazing at the area surrounding the camp. It was true; the herd of wild boars had vanished again. But "vanished" didn't mean they were actually watching the camp closely. If he left, he might face a pursuit by the boars.

However, one thing is certain: the wild boar herd is currently quite far apart. Staying close to the old camp will at least ensure you don't encounter any danger.

After thinking it through, Zhou Ye jumped down from the high place. He carried the prepared items to the gate, then moved the wooden stake holding the gate open and carefully opened it...